AGRICULTURE: A Pest-Ridden Harvest

The day before the conference
committee's monstrous farm bill came to a final vote in the House last
week, the chamber was sealed off for a closed caucus of Republican
members. "We simply cannot send this bill to the President,"
Massachusetts' gnarled Joe Martin told the waverers among his
colleagues. "It's a bad bill, and I'm sure he won't accept it." On the
other side, Texas' egg-bald Sam Rayburn and other Democratic leaders
were telling the doubtful among the Democrats that the bill might
provide the only way to get a Democrat...